Nairobi next week...

Garry heads to Nairobi next week! This will be a first for our family as none of us have been to Africa before. We are excited to see what God has in mind for his week there as he joins in an audit and a seminar. It's a small seminar geared toward Safety Managers setting up Safety Management Systems. The content and the people promise to be exciting!

Last week Garry and Kevin were busy trying to finish up the shed they've been building (and I think they just finished their part, at least for now!). Kevin has also been getting things organised for school as he's taking some classes at Steinbach Bible College this semester. Kaleb has been busy fixing bicycles and doing animation. Here's his little shop with some of his projects. 

As we think about moving to Spokane and saying goodbye to friends and places we've come to love in a new way over the past two years, we as a family have been talking a lot about relationships. The value of honest relationships. The purpose of living as the Body of Christ, reaching out to one another and the world. The deep satisfaction of following Jesus Christ, not only individually but corporately. Both the pain and the joy of living in community and the deep loss when there is no community. The fellowship of the Godhead among Itself. The call, the privilege, the responsibility.

It's pretty big. Universal and yet individual. What a blessing to be part of God's family that reaches around the world!

Saturday optimism

I heard once that an optimistic is a person who thinks they can accomplish in one day what they haven't been able to do in the past year. I can feel with that. And today was supposed to be my day! The day is passing, and I think the list is growing, not diminishing.

Garry, Kevin, and Kaleb are enjoying working together on a shed these days. Kevin is incredibly thankful to be back at work after his weeks with a broken toe. Garry really enjoys getting his hands dirty after so long in the office, even though he still has office stuff to do when he gets home. Besides building, Kaleb is doing bicycle repairs and tune-ups for people, which has been a fun little business for him.

Last weekend was the annual Braun Hog Roast, a great time to reconnect with family we don't see as often. It was a  great afternoon of chatting and relaxing, hearing what God is doing in various lives and just enjoying the time together.

I'm in the school planning stage, figuring out the school calendar (Manitoba or Washington?) and finalising curriculum choices. I've also enjoyed a bit more time with friends over the summer break. So, though I have a huge pile of office stuff I haven't finished yet, I'm enjoying my summer and looking forward to another school year.

Not according to my plan...

Things seldom turn out as planned, at least in my experience. God seems to take a unique joy in surprising us, in changing our direction, in revealing His character and goodness. That said, sometimes the surprises are not so pleasant to our way of thinking, some days we can't figure how the truth of God applies to our lives, and God's goodness is obscured. And most of the time, we see through a glass darkly, His character and goodness often clouded by our desires and life in a fallen world.

Since my last post we have been surprised in a number of ways, most of them still in the unfolding stage. We've enjoyed great times with family and friends. Garry made some progress on the shed he's building and spent several days in the office working on projects for Moody Aviation and preparing to move. We loved the Barkman family picnic at the park. We got and update from Moody's lawyer, and it seems like we have some direction, and she is currently preparing papers for us to apply for a visa. Garry and I spent a couple days in Fargo.

As I said, things seldom turn out as planned.... but we still plan and anticipate. These days Garry is looking forward to a Safety Manager Workshop in Nairobi, Kenya next month. He is planning to join the Mission Aviation Fellowship team as they learn about the various responsibilities of a safety manager and discuss challenges and opportunities in mission aviation.

When Garry returns we plan to head to Spokane, WA and spend some time with the team there and check into housing options in preparation to move later this fall.

In the meantime we are loving the warm days of summer.... trust you are also!